Dewfactor. The world from my dewpoint. My point of dew, as it were.

Well, hell, anyone can write, right? But not everyone can spell.
Bringing good spelling, good grammar, and what passes for wit, direct from me to you. All that plus a few more swear words, 'cause you can never get enough of those!

7.18.2005

Cult Corner

n.A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.The followers of such a religion or sect.A system or community of religious worship and ritual.The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.The object of such devotion.An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.Look here, boys and girls, Auntie Dew isn't trying to make anybody feel bad or nothin', but this insidious Scientology stuff is giving her the honest-to-G-d heebie jeebies. Goosepimpled flesh crawlin' creeps, man!! While I won't deny that I too have grave concerns about the over-prescription of Ritalin to "fix" high-spirited but mis-diagnosed schoolkids in this country and the rush to label something out of the DSM that can be "cured" with drugs zippy quick, but the fact remains that there are certain mental illnesses or disorders that really truly do need to be treated biochemically, because they are, at their root, chemical in nature. Not just that your chi is out of whack or what have you, but because something went chemically cattywhompus in there and only chemicals, administered under a doctor's care, can knock you back to plumb. And let's not even go down the road of stupidity suggesting that psychology and psychiatry are pseudo-sciences, because there are things unworthy of remark, believe it or not.

Which is why I am profoundly disturbed and annoyed that the people leaping to ol' Tommy's defense in his public horse's-assedness on the topic of post-partum depression are, surprise surprise, his fellow Scientologists; today it was Kelly Preston and Catherine Bell. Watch for other canned rebuttals at an entertainment media outlet near you. Make it stop, make it stop!!!

7.16.2005

Confessions of a closet nerd....

Yes, yes, wiseasses, I know that more than one of you is saying "'Closet'? pshhhhh, who does she think she's been fooling?!" Shaddup. I might be nerdy, but I am still fun as HELL, damn it!!Anywho.... Guess where I was at 9 this morning? That's right, fellow bibliophiles: at Barnes & Noble down the hill, buying my reserrrrrrrved copy of Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince. Woo hoo!! Goooooooo Jo!!! I admire her more for the amazing influence she's had on kids' reading in general than for her books, although I have enjoyed all 5 immensely (I'm saving the newest to read after I re-read Order of the Phoenix, and I've got a stack of other stuff to get to before that. Actually, this leads to a small digression: does it freak you out as much as it does me to contemplate how much stuff there is in the world that you don't know about and will never have time in your life to learn? I go into the library sometimes and am staggered by how much is there, and by the further rumination about the volume of knowledge I'll never have. Sad, really). I just think that the huuuuuuge popularity of her books has probably done more for readers aged 7 to 15 than any other author in our lifetime. And I'm willing to bet that her fantastic stories have led kids to read Lloyd Alexander and any number of other really talented but largely unheralded fantasy and mystery writers for kids, and that's always a good thing, in my book (*snicker* at my own awful pun).

7.15.2005

Oooooh, Karrrrrrrrl: naughty, naughty, naughty!!!

I admit readily that I have a huge antipathy for the greasy and odious Karl Rove, but I'm almost ashamed at how pleased I was to read this, penned by no less a figure in Republican political history than John Dean....Mouaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

7.12.2005

Tour de ....say what??

So we're enjoying a birthday lunch today at PF Chang's for Cindy and Dana, and poor Bob is once more the only man at the table. In an effort to steer the conversation away from things likely to make him sprout an ovary, we ask about the Tour de France (Bob's a big bike guy). And in explaining the team-oriented nature of helping Lance win, Bob says, "Well, those other guys on the team, they ride with him, and keep other riders from bumping him, or they ride up in front of him and break wind...."Silence fell over the table before we erupted in shrieks of laughter. Nice image, Bob, and thanks for letting us in on the wonderful world of sports, man-style.

7.05.2005

Warning: do not read if you've got a delicate constitution

This here? This is what evil looks like. Pure, unadulterated evil. Karla Teale, for those of you in Canadia: watch out for her, because she is the Devil in quasi-human form. I'll leave it to you to track back the links or search Google for Homolka, her former last name before she left prison after a terrifyingly short 12-year sentence -- you see, she was allowed by Canadian prosecutors to plea-bargain in exchange for testifying against her husband, with whom she had killed three teenaged girls, including her own sister. It was only afterwards that she gave police and prosecutors the videotapes she and Paul Bernardo (her husband, the rapist and murderer) had made of their crimes.

It makes my skin crawl to think that there are people like this alive and walking around free; I don't care if it costs me all my liberal cred, but Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo are poster children for a death penalty. (Yes, yes, I am speaking in the heat of the moment, and I understand how inequitably the death penalty is applied, and I'm well aware of what's happened in Illinois and other places where cases have been re-investigated, but I think there are still times when there's no better solution. Why should these people continue to exist???) Evidence they made themselves shows what they did and the glee they took in doing it; who better to die at the hands of the state? Heck, don't even give the state the chance: just turn them over to the parents of the girls they kidnapped, raped and murdered. I daresay that's a fairer solution, anyway.